Questions tagged [transportation]
For questions about the act or process of transporting something or someone from one location to another, including by technological or non-technological means. For questions about the specific machine or device used for transportation, consider using [vehicles] instead.
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Space station maglev junction design
I'm designing a city building game in a huge 3D (without any notion of "top" or "bottom") space station (or rather, a space city). There are various functional buildings (vertices) ...
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If money were no object, is there an element or alloy that would make for better train tracks than common steel?
A question that arose from here.
Say we have a planet with a different percentage of various elements than Earth, but steam train technology, and we were striving for train track longevity. Is there ...
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Horses or ATVS? [closed]
Writing a setting where people have access to modern technology from the greater world, but the people of this land haven't really developed yet; there isn't a rail or road network connecting the ...
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Horse Exoskeletons?
Working on a society a society that was never centralized or peaceful enough to invest in rail and road networks, even as the rest of the world developed. They've imported camels, donkeys, and horses ...
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Piezoelectric Horseshoes?
New here, so forgive me if I commit a faux pas or two
So I wrote a society that, never being wealthy or organized enough to invest in rail and road networks, stuck with beasts of burden, even as the ...
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The Topography of Madness: Why would my lighthouse be designed with noisy, maddening switches? [closed]
My world is dead and mostly unexplored. And at the end of the known world, there is a beacon which serves that singular purpose: warning anyone approaching that beyond this point, there is nothing ...
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What would happen to a person if their DNA was swapped for someone elses?
If Star Trek transporters actually existed...
Bob and Dave transport down to Earth from their ship. But something goes wrong and their DNA is swapped over! Not their cells as such, just the DNA ...
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Is there a physical/structural upper-speed-limit to steam locomotives?
In my world (essentially playing in the late 1920's to early 30's, though with a bit of hand-waved technological and political progress), a rail line exists that spans Eurasia from Lisbon to Bangkok.
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Potentional ways to exploit track built for very fast & very *very* heavy trains when transitioning to high speed rail?
In this world a nation has built 2 railway networks, a smaller 3'6" gauge network & a heavier 4'8" railway network. The 4'8" network connects most of the major cities & has very ...
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Super broad gauge railway vs double wide/multi track railway
So here's the scenario, a mad scientist has just managed to take over the continent on his campaign for world domination (which continent I will leave to your imagination but for simplicity lets say ...
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How would you go about creating a floating bridge across a large body of water? [closed]
So here's the idea: For large bodies of water, it becomes progressively harder and more expensive to build traditional bridges as the distance and depth increases. Would it be possible to create a ...
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What sort of nuclear-based transportation would be best suited to cheaply transporting large amount of cargo if radiation weren't a concern?
In this scenario people are in a constant war on an infinite flat world with the geography of Antarctica's interior (but with no liquid water or hydrocarbons). Notably this world has an abundance of ...
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How much time and distance would a maglev train take to accelerate to the top speed of 700 km/h?
So I have decided that in my story on Mars, I'll have magnetic levitation trains. Now I'm calculating travel times and, considering passenger comfort, the question is:
How quickly could a passenger ...
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Magnetic levitation train vs ordinary train: which migh fare better in Martian environment?
I'm refining my previous question about magnetic levitation trains on Mars. In my story, set on Mars, two settlements are connected by a railway line. Currently, it is an ordinary train of the type ...
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What would tires look like on a super-Earth with 2.5 G surface gravity?
A super-Earth has 2.5 G of surface gravity, as opposed to the Earth's 1 G of surface gravity. Some folks on it drive wheeled vehicles, and the wheels on said vehicles have tires on them. These tires ...
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How would having decent/good/great ability to fly naturally affect a species air, land, and water vehicle creation and usage?
I had posted a similar question about this not too long ago, only it was just asking about aircraft. It got closed for whatever reason. I am asking a similar question, because I realized that air-...
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Long distance travel by non-motorised rolling vehicles
Background
I have lush fertile mountains separated by miles of flat, barren desert. Each mountain is home to a community. The distances between mountains vary from 2 - 20 miles.
Every occupied ...
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How could a resistance movement sabotage a hyperloop?
In my setting, a futuristic North America, the hyperloop is a newfangled mode of long-distance transportation. Basically it's a vacuum tube at low friction and air resistance, which allows pods to ...
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A reason for racing haulers across tundra / Arctic?
It was difficult to sum the entire question into the title, but here's more context:
I'm working on a proof of concept for a game where you are racing vehicles rally raid style across Antarctica and / ...
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How feasibly could a post-apocalyptic society achieve aviation?
In my setting, I have created a technologically innovative faction which seeks to utilise various past technologies, namely, aircraft.
For context, the setting is a post apocalypse type setting ...
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Out of what type of cargo plane and at what altitude would the MC jump? [closed]
The main character needs to get from England to Norway, fast, and without anyone (Beyond a smuggler) finding out.
He’ll be jumping out of a cargo plane that is flying from England to Norway in the ...
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In a fantasy world where people can ride monsters and fantastic beasts, why does the horse still remain in active duty?
A fantasy staple, the fantastic mount (TvTropes). People in Fantasy Land ride giant yellow chickens, giant wolves, giant beetles, caterpilars, ants, and other insects, evolved bears, sharks, miniature ...
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How could an underwater society industrialize? [duplicate]
In my world, there is a species of underwater people. They are a mix of the creatures from Luca, and the creature from the Black Lagoon. At some point, when their technology progresses, they learn ...
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How could a two-legged chariot horse gallop?
I have a horse race design I think suits the world I created, but I don’t know how it could actually race. I need to resolve the actual propulsion.
In that other question the best answer seemed to be ...
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Why would space traders pick up and offload their goods from an orbiting platform rather than direct to the planet?
I'm outlining some ideas for a game I'd like to write, that at its core is about interplanetary space-trading (amongst other things, but that's not relevant to the question).
For project-scope reasons ...
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Why would airplanes become common when there is dragon-riding?
In my world, during their equivalent to the age of absolutism, dragon riding becomes very common. They can be too expensive to personally own, so they are mostly used in general warfare and ...
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'Cargo Management' on a ship transporting dragon slaves; in what position should the slavers bind the dragons up in to maximize space?
In a story I'm working on, a nation of humans with WW1-level tech and some concerningly fascist leanings encounter a late-medieval society of dragon-like creatures on a distant continent. They are ...
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How long would it take for a Roman farmer to learn about Julius Caesars assassination? [closed]
I'm writing a story that follows the life of a poor plebeian farmer in the late republic. While I was working on the plot, I realized a potential plot hole: such a person would not learn about the ...
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Most efficient form of locomotion for a super cell organism?
In my universe there is a planet that harbors a super cell organism created by an ancient precursor species. If you don’t know a super cell is theoretical idea where the cell can do just about ...
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How would you construct an aerial trolley transport system? [closed]
I am researching alternative transport systems in a solarpunk setting. I am especially interested in systems where airships are pulled by the kinds of cables currently used in ski lifts and aerial ...
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How high a mountain could possibly be climbed?
There has been a fair bit of previous discussion about how high mountains could get. I'm currently thinking about a different question: assuming the existence of a very tall mountain, how high would ...
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Good ways to transport your characters from a modern world to a fantasy world? [closed]
My character is being transported from our world to another world, and I want to do something original and unique. There are the classic options (magical artifact, secret door, portals, walk in the ...
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What might a time travel facility be called? [closed]
In the real world one may catch a train at a station, a flight from an airport, a bus from a depot, a boat from a port or terminal.
If one were to travel through time inside a time machine what would ...
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Matter transportation or housing for Cosmic string information FTL [closed]
An advanced future empire uses cosmic strings as FTL to transport information around the empires network of strings, they use this method also to materialise their robotic bodies and minds in far off ...
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What would need to change to make living comfortable in a world with limited cars?
My world is a futuristic soft sci fi with humans but not set on Earth (though planet is earthlike). In it, the world has been ravaged by a monster driven apocalypse multiple times. It has been 400 ...
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How many refugees can I pack into a nuclear-powered version of the largest ship ever built?
Countryistan is a large island nation approximately 3,000 kilometers from the nearest landmass.
The government of Countryistan is secretly planning on committing genocide and ethnic cleansing against ...
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In a supercontinent would ships still be the primary way of transportation before the invention of engines?
introduction
My world is made of a super-continent with very little isles, it has 100 countries, 97 of which are on land. 3 of those are underwater for folk who are able to live confortably in the ...
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Are the railroad and the telegraph inseparable inventions?
In my world, I'm trying to come up with reasons why trains are the fastest method of communication, and that brings into question:
Are the railroad and the telegraph inseparable? They both came into ...
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Would rubber carriage wheels significantly improve the efficiency of horse-drawn carriage travel?
So, suppose a medieval society knows how to create vulcanized rubber. (As long as they have rubber sap, sulphur, and the recipe, it shouldn't be outside of their capabilities. The process is super ...
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Transportation in a fantasy world without wood
In my low-fantasy world wood is a very limited resource because all forests are haunted. Cutting a tree often means drawing the wrath of the creatures living in the woods, resulting in some very ...
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What is an expedience of sci-fi gliders? these machines flying near the very ground
What is an expedience of sci-fi gliders? these machines flying near the very ground.
It doesn't matter what they call them there (in different way).
No matter what specific principle they fly - what ...
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What issues could multiple lanes of travel in the air pose in a city?
In the world I am working on, society is made up of multiple species of equally intelligent/sapient humanoid insects that operate extremely similar to humans. Cities contain many different species of ...
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Are vactrains a good choice for cargo?
It seems like all the discussion of vactrains is about transporting people.
But what about a smaller-diameter vactrain that could shuttle cargo around the world at thousands of mph? You could have a ...
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Vehicles vs work animals in a desert planet
Would animals like camels and horses be more useful/practical in the deep desert than vehicles like dune buggies and sandrails?
Basically, I have a planet that's mostly desert surrounded with rock ...
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Who's the fastest (with no restrictions) [closed]
Swimsuits should not cover the neck, must not extend past the shoulders and ankles, also the suits' thickness and buoyancy is limited. Maximum thickness of the sole of the shoe should not exceed 20 mm ...
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Constructing a secret villain base - best ways for covert short-range air transport?
I stumbled upon this map of northern Quebec the other day, and what really struck me was just how empty the interior was. No populated places, no roads, no navigable rivers - as far as I know no ...
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Freight on a World without Oceans
The world is a planet with an extremely smooth surface, so that there are no significant pools of water. The ground is usually dry, but there is rain, which is absorbed into the ground and cycles ...
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Why would small rail vehicles supplement cars & normal passenger trains in the near future?
Why would small rail vehicles exist alongside cars & normal passenger trains in the near future? In this world rails run throughout cities for metros & every town has a rail connection outside ...
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Realistic travel times for a horse drawn cart in a medieval empire?
So I have a rather large late medieval feudalistic empire that is roughly about the size of South America top to bottom in terms of its radius. Road networks are typically well-maintained between ...
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How could criminals make getaways in a world where public transportation is most common?
In my world, trains are the most prevalent form of transportation. Immense subway systems are used to transport people, livestock, and other goods throughout the world. Street level, trams, bicycles, ...
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